FAA studies iPads for navigation

The FAA has been studying whether tablet devices can replace paper aeronautical charts in the cockpits of planes. And for at least one charter jet company, the answer is yes. The agency has given the go-ahead to a large executive aircraft operator to use iPads equipped with a special app to display charts to pilots electronically through all phases of flight. The decision follows three months of testing – including an in-flight decompression test at 50-thousand feet – in which the device held up just fine.